The Bishop of Evangelism and Discipleship, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Edoka Amuta, believes that no amount of terror or persecution will stop the gospel. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on this and sundry issues. Excerpts:
Nigeria was 54 last week as an independent nation. How would you assess the country?
When I was younger, I felt the impact of government even in the rural area where we lived. My father was a teacher in the primary school. The school was lively; education was very good. Even in the village back then, we had extra curricula activities such as agriculture, band and sports. Everything was impressive.
We wrote common entrance and passed with our rural background. That formed the background of my life today. Those days were very good. As we grew, we saw there were unity, peace and progress. You could live in any part of this country without fear of molestation. Food was readily available and job seekers got employment.
I’d say Nigeria has progressed in many ways but there are other sides that are not very pleasant. That we are still together as a nation is a plus. We have done fairly well but there is a large room for improvement.
You just came on board as the Bishop of Evangelism and Discipleship. What has changed since your assumption of office?
You know so much has changed. There is renewed vigour and zeal for evangelism in our work. We have travelled round doing crusades and seminars as well as retreats. We have seen that interest in the work of God among us has greatly increased. We see many people coming to Christ and those in the system are getting revived. I see that people are very eager and hungry to go the way for God.
How much has the insurgency in the north-east affected the works of the church?
We have been seriously affected. We have churches there. We have a main church in Maiduguri, which has been there since the early 80s. I have been involved in church-planting activities personally in the north-east. I recall a time we were there. We planted about 10 churches across Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. They were growing but since this insurgency, they have been largely affected.
A few of them closed down but again I got a report that one of them has been revived again. Among the abducted Chibok girls, we have it on good information that about eight or nine of them are Methodists. We feel the pain because we would have spread further but for the insurgency. Our growth there has slowed down.
Don’t you think it is best for the churches there to close down pending when the security will improve?
Well, the thing is that the message of the gospel must be preached. While people are affected, there are souls still living there. They need the gospel of Christ there. They need succour and hope to stay alive.
Should that be at the expense of their lives?
Well, you know we don’t use violence to promote the message of Christ. It is the gospel of love. It cost the life of Christ and if we want to really show the world the love of God, we should be ready to give it whatever it will take. Sometimes, it could be our lives. So, we have some Methodists who are standing there. Our ministers are there despite the crisis though many churches are folding up there. We don’t have plans to evacuate them though we move those who want to leave. Those who want to stay, we encourage and take care of them. We keep communicating, especially in terms of assistance for sustenance.
If they can’t totally close down, shouldn’t they go underground and operate as cell groups instead of exposing themselves to danger?
There are various approaches to God’s works. In some cases, people have the grace to operate openly while some have to operate underground. We are exploiting both to promote the gospel of love. Either way, the fact is no amount of terror will stop the church of God.
How committed is the church to evangelism and discipleship?
Evangelism and Discipleship is at the front burner of our operations. In 2006, the church took a serious decision to make evangelism its major focus. It adopted a vision to be one of the spiritually-vibrant and largest churches in Nigeria. Until then, we didn’t come out with a concrete decision on evangelism despite the fact that we are an evangelical church.
So, the whole activities of the church now are geared towards evangelism. To make it stronger, the person heading the Directorate of Discipleship and Evangelism is a Bishop. I happen to be the second person in that office. That indicates our commitment. The church has decided that every budget at all levels from the local church, circuit, dioceses and archdiocese, twenty percent of it should be allocated to evangelism. So, the church is ready to fund evangelism while members and groups are also doing several things in this direction.
The Council of Knights has adopted a particular state capital in the north as their mission ground. They have acquired a land, will build a church and hand it over to us. The women’s group is also doing something. I visited the youth wing of a Diocese in Rivers that has planted two churches.
The exodus of youths from the Methodist is high. Is that a bother to you?
Yes, that is a fact. The renewed interest of the church is meant to address that. We have policies of making our services youth-friendly. We have youth churches in some of our big churches. We have youth pastors now overseeing the youth wings of the church. These are stemming the tide in the church. It is a concern but we are addressing it.
How about discipleship? Are there plans, beyond planting churches, to ensure that those in the system are real Disciples of Christ?
We have put in place measures of re-focusing the clergy in this direction. This year, we have held retreats for the priests and presbyters, who are very serious ministers. Not long ago, we held retreats for others too. We are using these to revive ourselves and refocus ourselves on discipleship.
We have a bible study guide which we prepared for our members. It is used for weekly bible studies in all our local churches. Sometimes, it is used on Sundays. We also have Daily Reflections, which is our daily devotional for members. We have the Young Minds’ Reflection for younger members. From next year, we want to put it on apps so that our youths can access it online for devotions.
We also encourage mentorship, sometimes intentionally getting older Christians to look after younger ones through winning their respect and confidence. We are taking on that seriously.
You are just starting but what would you think will be the highest point when you are bowing out of office?
My prayer and desire is to see a church that is vibrant in the Spirit and righteousness. I want to see a church where the gifts of the Spirit will operate in all lives. I want to see a church where people will be hunger to know and serve God while placing their lives and resources in the hands of God for kingdom expansion.
Will Nigeria survive the many challenges against it?
Yes, I believe Nigeria will survive. You see this country is of God. God destined us to be together and no amount of human efforts to put us asunder.
Two, we are working towards nation-building. We are holding our national convention next January where the theme will be Aglow in the Spirit. We intend to teach people how to be good citizens through impartation and prayers.
